Hello everybody, this is my first post on this forum and I am happy to have this as a resource. I recently purchased 97 5.4l f150 ext 4wd for $600. The truck has 174k on it right now and the rear frame is completely rusted/rotted out. It is also cracked twice on one side of the frame rail and once on the other side, but I am still driving it. So since all the rust issues are in the rear I have aquired another rear portion from the junk yard for $70 with rear spring hangers and all cross members. I also have the Grade 8 bolts, nuts and washers I needed to install the new frame once I get the old rivets out.

HERE is my 1st question: Would it be possible to start drilling out frame rivets one by one and replacing them on the old frame with the new bolts? And I mean while the truck is sitting on the ground with jack stands under the rear axle. The point of doing this would be to shorten the frame swap jobs completion time so I have a better chance of not getting stuck and still being able to drive to work after.

2nd question: Is the 2wd and 4wd rear frame portion the same on both trucks? and is the single cab/quad cab rear frame the same? When at the junk yard I roughly measured it with my arm lol and they seem identical. the longer part would be the front frame correct?

Just as a side note I could not find what size bolt i needed online so i measured it and already test fit the bolts I got which are:
(4) 7/16"-20 x 1-1/2"
(10) 9/16"-18 x 1-1/2"
zinc plated SAE flat washers
all bolts/nuts/washers grade 8
*these bolts only account for the rivets you need to take off to swap the frame* excluding: rear spring hangers, crossmemeber ect.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME

 

I think grinding out the old rivets and replacing with a bolt until all are out is a good time saving plan...... might be hard to get to some of the rivets with bed and gas tank in place ?

 

grind one side of the rivet flat to the frame, then punch out with a center punch.

 

Thanks for the response Steve, I spent a few days in the junkyard with a hatchet, 4 pound hammer, chisel/punch set I picked up from harbor freight.

Since I dont have any cordless tools besides a drill that dies in 10 minutes of use, I would cut the heads off with the hatchet or chisel and hammer. Then drive them out with the punch.

Those rivets are in there really good so it helps to
have a friend hold the hatchet/punch so you can really swing hard.

But halfway through the job I bought the harbor freight 22 dollar drill and even though it dies quickly, drilling all the way through makes the rivets easier to get out. Even if you drill halfway through it helps you center the punch in the middle of the rivet.

But you were right about it being tight unless you take the bed off, so I might pickup one of those right angle air drills cause they are much smaller usually than electric.

Oh and when some of the bed bolts stripped out, me and my buddy cut the bottom of the bed out around the bed bolts with a hatchet LOL

 

I wanted to add more info to this thread about the rear frame swap.

The bed bolts on my truck are terribly hard to get off without stripping the torx socket on the bolts.

If your having trouble with the torx bit breaking its because your not using a torx plus bit.

I bought a nice little 3/8" drive torx plus kit for $40 off amazon with all the bits i need for the bed and seat bolts.

The torx plus fits perfectly in the bed bolts but the bed bolts still strip if they are rusted solid.

So I went to my local Lowes and found an alternative bolt which is m12 x 1.75 100 hex bolt grade 8

This bolt fits perfectly the only part it doesn't have is the little non-threaded tip at the end of the bolt, but it has threads in the same spot as oem bolts.

I couldn't find the size of the bed bolts anywhere so I hope this helps someone with rusty bed bolts like me lol